The Creation of Man and Woman

⁴ This is the account of heaven and earth when they were created, at the time when the Lord God made earth and heaven.

⁵ Wild bushes and plants were not on the earth yet because the Lord God hadn’t sent rain on the earth. Also, there was no one to farm the land. ⁶ Instead, underground water would come up from the earth and water the entire surface of the ground.

⁷ Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the earth ^[a] and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being.

⁸ The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. That’s where he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹ The Lord God made all the trees grow out of the ground. These trees were nice to look at, and their fruit was good to eat. The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil grew in the middle of the garden.

¹⁰ A river flowed from Eden to water the garden. Outside the garden it divided into four rivers. ¹¹ The name of the first river is Pishon. This is the one that winds throughout Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² (The gold of that land is pure. Bdellium and onyx are also ⌞found⌟ there.) ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon. This is the one that winds throughout Sudan. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is Tigris. This is the one that flows east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to farm the land and to take care of it. ¹⁶ The Lord God commanded the man. He said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden. ¹⁷ But you must never eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because when you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is right for him.”

¹⁹ The Lord God had formed all the wild animals and all the birds out of the ground. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called each creature became its name. ²⁰ So the man named all the domestic animals, all the birds, and all the wild animals.

But the man found no helper who was right for him. ²¹ So the Lord God caused him to fall into a deep sleep. While the man was sleeping, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. ²² Then the Lord God formed a woman from the rib that he had taken from the man. He brought her to the man.

²³ The man said,

²⁴ That is why a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and they will become one flesh. ²⁵ The man and his wife were both naked, but they weren’t ashamed of it.

Jesus Cures Simon’s Mother-in-Law and Many Others^(A)

²⁹ After they left the synagogue, they went directly to the house of Simon and Andrew. James and John went with them. ³⁰ Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever. The first thing they did was to tell Jesus about her. ³¹ Jesus went to her, took her hand, and helped her get up. The fever went away, and she prepared a meal for them.

³² In the evening, when the sun had set, people brought to him everyone who was sick and those possessed by demons. ³³ The whole city had gathered at his door. ³⁴ He cured many who were sick with various diseases and forced many demons out of people. However, he would not allow the demons to speak. After all, they knew who he was.

Spreading the Good News in Galilee^(B)

³⁵ In the morning, long before sunrise, Jesus went to a place where he could be alone to pray. ³⁶ Simon and his friends searched for him. ³⁷ When they found him, they told him, “Everyone is looking for you.”

³⁸ Jesus said to them, “Let’s go somewhere else, to the small towns that are nearby. I have to spread ⌞the Good News⌟ in them also. This is why I have come.”

³⁹ So he went to spread ⌞the Good News⌟ in the synagogues all over Galilee, and he forced demons out of people.

Jesus Cures a Man with a Skin Disease^(C)

⁴⁰ Then a man with a serious skin disease came to him. The man fell to his knees and begged Jesus, “If you’re willing, you can make me clean.” ^[a]

⁴¹ Jesus felt sorry for him, reached out, touched him, and said, “I’m willing. So be clean!”

⁴² Immediately, his skin disease went away, and he was clean.

⁴³ Jesus sent him away at once and warned him, ⁴⁴ “Don’t tell anyone about this! Instead, show yourself to the priest. Then offer the sacrifices which Moses commanded as proof to people that you are clean.”

⁴⁵ When the man left, he began to talk freely. He spread his story so widely that Jesus could no longer enter any city openly. Instead, he stayed in places where he could be alone. But people still kept coming to him from everywhere.